A new-first for me, but something I've always wanted to do: random record reviews.I just wanted to cover stuff that I have and like, stuff that's bad (and overhyped), stuff I just bought, some records and bands that I just stumble across, and the occasional judging a book (or in this case a CD) by it's cover.
I've had this idea for a long time, but I don't write for a magazine, and let's face it, magazines only review records to keep up with PR campaigns. It's rare to see a review of some old record that one should check out (the only time you see that is when a record is re-issued, which is, again, a part of someone's publicity campaign!)
So, from time to time, I will be posting some reviews of stuff I simply dig.
So, here goes...
While I have been collecting records for a good portion of my life (20 years!) I have a pretty decent sized collection, and I think I know a fair amount about different bands and artists, there are a some very significant gaps in my musical knowledge. I don't think I've ever really listened to Janis Joplin, Neurosis, Megadeth, Tommy Keane, Styx, or Pavement. I don't listen much to Led Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Dinosaur Jr. or the Stones either. Sue me.
One particular artist that I have always avoided is Neil Young. Why? I don't know why exactly, probably a vague hippy association, and then a vague grunge association, O.K., that's exactly why.
Recently, a few things have made me re-think some aspects of Mr. Neil Young, particularly, his great 1975 album, ZUMA.
1. After meeting a number of Canadians, and of all the famous-Canadians-that-we-are-proud-that-they-aren't-American, Neil Young seems to be at the top of the list, much higher than Pamela Anderson, William Shatner or Jim Carrey.
2. Thinking about that video, where he made fun of Michael Jackson's hair catching fire, how punk is that?
3. Seeing him recently on Stephen Colbert, and his segment was funny as hell.
So, after seeing Neil Young on Colbert, I downloaded a couple of tunes, and liked what I heard. Then as luck would have it, when I went to the library and they had about 4 Neil Young CD's and ZUMA was one of them. Sure the folk-rock-country sounds of Harvest are nice, but it's all about ZUMA, you rocker, you.
ZUMA is a record Neil Young recorded with Crazy Horse in 1975, when I was only 3 years old, (for those of you that don't know, a year after I got the big scar on my face). And while it's not Neil Young's most famous record, it certainly isn't obscure, but it is certainly different than what was happening at the time. It seems as if Neil Young and Crazy Horse wanted to record the nastiest, dirtiest, loudest, and swampiest (is that even a word?) blues record ever recorded.
I knew that Slint covered "Cortez the Killer" but I didn't expect that ZUMA was such an influence on so much music I like. It's like the first time I heard Mission of Burma or the Stooges, and realized, "OH, that's where that sound comes from!"
To name just a few bands I like that really seem to have been influenced by this record are: Slint, Drive Like Jehu(!), (especially) Silkworm, Sonic Youth and Guided By Voices. Acoustic Folk, Bright jangly guitar pop and weird dark discordant blues are the colors of this album, but the thing that stands out is Neil Young's jangly, loose (almost sloppy) guitar playing. Some songs are drenched in feedback, crunching overdriven guitars, and yet contain a weird sparseness and tension. Think of the quiet moments in a song by Slint and you're getting the idea. And Neil Young's frequent backing band, Crazy Horse's sparse and restrained playing really give the record this feeling. Zuma, has the feeling of being one long song with different parts and moods. This CD is like discovering the primordial DNA of a certain breed of indie/grunge/punk rock (I'm sure it was an influence on a number of bands I don't like) complete with the crappy cover drawing that looks like it was done by your eight year old cousin.
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